Charles Bird King (born Newport, RI, 1785–died Washington, D.C., 1862) Poor <strong>Art</strong>ist’s Cupboard, c. 1815 Oil on panel, 29 13/16 x 27 13/16 in. (75.7 x 70.7 cm) Museum Purchase, <strong>Gallery</strong> Fund and Exchange, 1955 About the <strong>Art</strong>ist Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Charles Bird King began his formal art training in New York with portraitist Edward Savage. He later moved to London, where he lived for seven years, to continue studying with painter Benjamin West. He returned to the U.S. to live and work in Philadelphia, but had a lackluster career, selling only two portraits during his four years there. King settled in Washington D.C. in 1818, where he achieved great success as a painter <strong>of</strong> society and diplomatic portraits. In addition, he ran a for-pr<strong>of</strong>it gallery in his home on Twelfth Street where he exhibited his own paintings. King’s portraits <strong>of</strong> Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, both commissioned while King resided in D.C., are in the <strong>Corcoran</strong>’s collection. Although he was from a family <strong>of</strong> means and apparently never had to support himself through the sales <strong>of</strong> his works, at times King chose to live in self-imposed privation; as a student in London, he and portraitist Thomas Sully shared a small, one-room apartment and subsisted on bread, milk, and potatoes in order to stretch their budgets. King is best known for his paintings <strong>of</strong> Native American delegates to the nation’s capital, making him one <strong>of</strong> the first portraitists <strong>of</strong> Western tribal leaders. Unfortunately, many <strong>of</strong> these works were destroyed in an 1865 fire at the Smithsonian Institution. About the <strong>Art</strong> Although King based Poor <strong>Art</strong>ist’s Cupboard on personal experience, he was not by any means a “starving artist.” The still life painting has been understood by art historians to be a meditation on the impoverishment <strong>of</strong> cultural life—especially that <strong>of</strong> Philadelphia— as symbolized by the tattered books and papers. Through the various objects in the niche, King introduces his audience to the sad story <strong>of</strong> fictional artist, C. Palette. Drafting tools are at the center, flanked by a crust <strong>of</strong> bread—perched, ironically, on a richly bound art history tome—and a humble glass <strong>of</strong> water. Just below are two calling cards, each addressed to Mr. Palette. One, from a miserly patron, Mrs. Skinflint, requests that he visit her after tea, and a second asks Palette to repay a debt <strong>of</strong> five dollars that he owes to a “lover <strong>of</strong> the arts.” Above, two thin volumes bear handwritten titles which were traditional proverbs about poverty: “We Fly by Night” and “No Song, no Supper.” On top <strong>of</strong> them lies a stack <strong>of</strong> unpaid bills. Surrounding these objects is a host <strong>of</strong> books with rather gloomy titles: The Miseries <strong>of</strong> Life, The Advantages <strong>of</strong> Poverty – Part III, and Cheyne’s Vegetable Diet. At the upper left <strong>of</strong> this tableau is an advertisement for a Sheriff’s Sale listing the “property <strong>of</strong> an artist,” a few articles <strong>of</strong> clothing, a peck <strong>of</strong> potatoes, and several still lifes <strong>of</strong> rich repasts painted “from recollection.” King’s trompe l’oeil panel is also reminiscent <strong>of</strong> Dutch still life paintings in the tradition <strong>of</strong> vanitas, which are contemplations on the fleeting pleasures <strong>of</strong> life. Indeed the tattered books, as well as the cylinder <strong>of</strong> papers—which one art historian has observed when viewed obliquely resembles a skull—suggest decay and death. Suggested Dialogue • How do we know that fictional artist C. Palette is poor? Are King’s visual clues easily translated by 21st-century audiences? • If you were to construct a still life about a contemporary struggling artist, what objects would you include? What would you name the fictional artist? • Do you think King is sympathetic with Palette’s circumstances? Note the beaver top hat on the right; do you think that would be an item that an artist <strong>of</strong> little means would typically possess? Extended Dialogue • If you created an “identity niche” to describe yourself, what would you include? Would your family and friends be able to recognize you from the items in your niche? Vocabulary Benjamin West (1738-1820): An Anglo- American Neoclassical painter <strong>of</strong> historical scenes and portraits during and after the time <strong>of</strong> the Revolutionary War. Henry Clay (1777-1852): A 19th-century American statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and the House <strong>of</strong> Representatives, where he served as Speaker. He also served as Secretary <strong>of</strong> State from 1825 to 1829. John C. Calhoun (1782-1850): The seventh Vice President <strong>of</strong> the United States and a leading Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half <strong>of</strong> the 19th century. Portrait: A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation <strong>of</strong> a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood <strong>of</strong> the person. Still life: An arrangement or work <strong>of</strong> art showing a collection or grouping <strong>of</strong> inanimate objects. Vanitas: The word is Latin, meaning “emptiness.” A type <strong>of</strong> symbolic work <strong>of</strong> art especially associated with Northern European still life painting in the 16th and 17th centuries. Trompe l’oeil: Trompe l’oeil is French for “deceive the eye.” This term is used to describe pictures in which a deliberate visual illusion is intended by the artist. Niche: A niche is an architectural recess in a wall or the like, usually semicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue or other decorative object. Support for <strong>Art</strong>s 101 materials is made possible in part by the Women’s Committee <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Corcoran</strong> and the DC Commission on the <strong>Art</strong>s and Humanities.
endnotes Lisa Strong, “Charles Bird King, Poor <strong>Art</strong>ist’s Cupboard” in <strong>Corcoran</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>: American Paintings to 1945, ed. Sarah Cash, et al, (Washington, D.C.: <strong>Corcoran</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong> in association with Hudson Hills Press, 2011), 152-153. Linda Crocker Simons, “Poor <strong>Art</strong>ist’s Cupboard” in A Capital Collection: Masterworks from the <strong>Corcoran</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, ed. Amy Pastan (Lingfield, Surrey: Third Millennium Publishing Limited, 2002), 100-101.
- Page 1 and 2: Aaron Douglas, Into Bondage, 1936 c
- Page 3 and 4: endnotes Jennifer Wingate, “Aaron
- Page 5 and 6: Alma Thomas (born Columbus, GA, 189
- Page 7: Charles Bird King, Poor Artist’s
- Page 11 and 12: Joshua Johnson (born probably Balti
- Page 13 and 14: Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #83,
- Page 15 and 16: endnotes Jack Flam, Richard Diebenk
- Page 17 and 18: Sam Gilliam (born Tupelo, MS, 1933-
- Page 19 and 20: Kerry James Marshall, Voyager, 1992
- Page 21 and 22: endnotes Terrie Sultan, “ Voyager
- Page 23 and 24: Gordon Parks (born Fort Scott, KS,
- Page 25 and 26: Marsden Hartley, Berlin Abstraction
- Page 27 and 28: endnotes Sarah Cash, “Marsden Har
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